choices | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “choices”

09 Dec 2014

I Want Music Everywhere

For a lot of us who are music enthusiasts (and perhaps many who aren’t) it feels like we have a soundtrack for our life stored up on our imaginary music list in our heads. Movies, television and other media help encourage the idea that we are in our own sort of “movie” or video, and we are working through our lives with a soundtrack.

These days it is easy to walk through an airport or mall and see people with headphones on. Over the ear Beats headphones (among others) can shut off the rest of the word pretty well and allow for a full scale stereophonic soundtrack to be playing while you are living your daily life.

When I was very young there was “transistor” radios that made portable soundtracks possible. Then in the car, then on tape with the Walkman, then CD’s and ultimately iPods and MP3 players. All designed to allow for a portable soundtrack to play as we moved along our lives from one interaction to another. Even when we are interacting at gatherings, or out in the clubs – we have another soundtrack that complimented our feelings and emotions of the moment.

Perhaps there are some brainwaves that are stimulated by it… allowing for us to be in our own personal movie in our head. Perhaps it is just an emotional indicator for how we see life at the moment, or a way to create the mood we need…. Just watch out for the screen credits to roll (ha)!

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged choices, Happiness, Joy, Life Soundtrack, moments, Music, Opinion, Rock music, Self-Awareness

26 Nov 2014

Thankful for Our Children

My wife has said before that as a parent you may not always like your kids, but you will always love them. There may be some sense in that for many of us. As our kids get older and become adults they have had plenty of time to formulate their own idea of the order of their lives. Sometimes they make poor choices ( and you wonder if anything soaked in during those younger years), sometimes they take things for granted or create problems that are not really there.

One thing I have learned as my kids got older ( they are all over 21 now) is that they are forever entwined in their childhood personas. When they were born, from the day they could actually respond to things around them, my wife and I could tell that each of our four children were unique in their own way. They had their own way of looking at the world from virtually the day they were born. And all the life lessons and teaching you could apply would help to shape the edges, but their personality was something they were born with.

So as adults my wife and I can still see it. We had 3 sons in a row, and each one of them had their own perspective on things. While one of them was Intellectually reason out the simplest of problems ( even at 3 years old), another one of them got easily frustrated and would work to plan to manipulate his surroundings , the third was laid back and things would roll off and he would work through things in such a simple way and just smile. My daughter was our last, she was earthy, of the earth she loves animals more than people, enjoys nature and adjusts to things overtime when she finds the balance.

One thing they all had in common was music, my children did not all become consummate musicians ( however one of them has composed a number of great songs playing all the instruments and vocals). But music was meaningful. It is the canvas in which our lives would speak through sound and emotion. It ties us together in so many ways.

So this holiday season, when my adult kids will all be visiting our home we are thankful. We are grateful that we have had the opportunity to experience being a parent and proud of what they have become.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life, Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, Change, choices, Compassion, Doubt, Faith, Family, Growing up, Memories, moments, Postive Thinking, Raising Children, Sprituality, Thankful, Thanksgiving

24 Nov 2014

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Why Don’t You Say Hello!?

There are times when it seems we are just not connected to what’s going on around us. There are certainly times when I pass by someone on the street or in a store and they seem to be so deeply into “their world” that it can take pause to wonder if they realize they are in public.

Strangers avert their eyes, They don’t want to appear to be eager to talk or interact in any way. With news of such violent times all around us, it is probably to be expected that many do not want to initiate something that could result in harm or anguish.

It’s a shame though really.Being connected to the world means you can understand it more. Being connected to each other would help to prevent the very fear of the unknown that roots in our aversion. It is ironic that we can be so transparent on social media, where there is an electronic physical space between all of us, but face to face, it can seem so different.

Not everyone is like that. It is refreshing to see someone you don’t know who may catch your glance and say “good morning” or “hello” or something. Just an acknowledgment that we are all moving along in this timeline together. It doesn’t mean we have to be fast friends, or relate to each other on any subjective level. Just a polite smile and a “hello”.

It may be a little easier at the holidays. “Happy Holiday’s” or “Merry Christmas” seems to be okay and has some more appeal than just looking away. But then even-so, we may be addressing someone who doesn’t celebrate the season. But no matter, it is just the fact we intended to make contact, intended to recognize that there is another human-being going through waking hours and making an effort to live life.

Like all of us I’d guess, I struggle with a lot of burdens (health in particular) and I have a lot of opinions on things, but I am not trying to throw them to someone else with a simple “hello” or “good-day” – just seems the right thing to do. It can give comfort to the fact that we are humankind. Well for the most part anyway 😉

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Advice, choices, Compassion, Emotion, Grace, life is precious, Memories, Postive Thinking, Self-Awareness

17 Nov 2014

It’s Complicated

By now I think it is pretty obvious, everyone is looking for simple answers to complicated world. They are flocking to every outlet they can to find the answer, and hoping that the answer will provide them the calmness they desire to know that “everything will be alright”. But it is also probably no surprise that everything will not be alright. The world around us is complicated.

It always had been, but perhaps we weren’t so aware of the complications before. We had limited information about the complications, so we only knew what was hovering around our consciousness. We got our news from 20 minutes of TV or a half-read newspaper.

We called people on a phone and if they weren’t there we just left a message.No immediate response necessary. We didn’t look for others to provide us our opinion through 24 hours of TV or Internet. we had time to formulate it ourselves.

So the ingredients for complicating our lives is compounded by everything around us. The people who want to propagate all the fear, uncertainty and doubt. The fearful who want to share their fear with others so they can be less alone in their fear. They are all willing to communicate to you in the most immediate ways.

Dissatisfaction compounded by threats that can be enlarged by others who are dissatisfied, compounding fear and turning it into hate and misunderstanding. It is such a circle that it appears that there is no end, it keeps going round and round.

Local strife with the police, government strife with the way things are going – feeling out of control and looking for the only way to manage things in our lives that may be not complicated. But it is complicated.

The answer doesn’t has to be complicated however, there are ways to make change that are within our reach. Counting on our faith, reaching out for our hope, making peace with the world though Him.

In a time when being “dissatisfied” leaves to blaming others, to not look to our own accountability on things. Thinking that if there isn’t a simple answer there must be a conspiracy, or someone else to blame. That leads nowhere.

Don’t like something? Become active in making change. There are peaceful ways to get to the end.

Now back to your regular programming. I will step off my soap-box.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged choices, Complications, Confusion, Definitions, Desire to be heard, Faith, God, Grace, Life, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Searching, Self-Awareness, Simplicity, The "answer"

04 Nov 2014

Remaining In Hope

I will admit it, over the past couple of years posting things to this blog I have addressed hope. It comes to us in many ways but in the end it just comes down to one thing. Our ability to not let things get to the point of hopelessness.

For us Christians ( which many of you may not be) there is a simple passage that I was reminded of the other day.

“Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope” (Lamentations 3: 21-24).

The focus is on hope. Regardless of the circumstances, It is honestly healthy to face your feelings. Share them with others and with God. So many times in the past I have held them in, tried to manage them on my own. Like a “strong” person I was showing my strength by not letting things get to me when in actuality they were.

So I am hopeful that some way God will see to it that the quality of my life with my wife, my family and friends continues to be the treasure it has been. I want to be sure that they have hope. Regardless of the time left ahead in this life, there will be more after that.

In the meantime there is no reason not to have hope. It would be a very rough road if we let hope slip away. It would be hopeless. But that cannot happen with Him. And it is my hope that it will not happen with my friends and family.